California Minor Work Permit: Forms, Steps, and Hour Limits

In California, a work permit for minors is issued by your school after you line up a job: you bring home a form (CDE B1-1) signed by your employer and your parent, your school reviews your grades and attendance, and the school issues the actual permit (CDE B1-4) that lets you start work. Almost everyone under 18 who hasn’t graduated needs one, and each permit is tied to a specific employer at a specific address.

Who Needs a Permit

If you’re under 18, haven’t graduated from high school, and haven’t earned an equivalency certificate, you need a Permit to Employ and Work before starting a job in California. The requirement runs year-round, including summer and holidays, and a permit covers one employer only. Change jobs and you start the process over.¹

When You Don’t Need One

A few situations are exempt:²

Self-employment, such as tutoring, selling crafts online, or freelance work.
Self-employed newspaper carriers on a regular route (must be at least 12).
Casual odd jobs for private homeowners, like babysitting, mowing lawns, or raking leaves.
Working for a parent or guardian on property the parent owns, operates, or controls.

If your job doesn’t fit one of those, assume you need the permit. Working without one creates legal problems for the employer, not for you, but it can still cost you the job.

The Four Steps

Step 1: Get a Job Offer First

You can’t apply in advance. The permit names the specific employer, the work location, the duties, and the hours, so you need an actual offer before you fill anything out.³

Step 2: Complete the B1-1 Form

Ask your school office for the “Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit,” known as CDE Form B1-1. Many districts also post it as a downloadable PDF. The form collects three signatures:⁴

Your employer fills in the job description, expected hours, workplace address, and confirms workers’ compensation coverage.
You fill in your personal information and sign.
Your parent or legal guardian signs to consent.

The holdup is usually the employer’s section. Bring the form to your hiring manager and explain it has to be completed before you can legally start.

Step 3: Turn It In to Your School

Return the completed B1-1 to your school’s authorized issuer, typically in the principal’s, attendance, or guidance office. Under Education Code Section 49110, the superintendent, a principal (or designee), or a credentialed pupil personnel services professional can issue permits.⁵ The issuer reviews your grades and attendance before approving.

Since 2024, every minor who submits a B1-1 must also receive a printed labor rights information sheet, a requirement added by Assembly Bill 800.³ Your school should hand this to you automatically.

Step 4: Receive the B1-4 Permit

If your record checks out, the school issues the “Permit to Employ and Work” (CDE Form B1-4). Copies go to the employer, your parent or guardian, and the district.⁶ It spells out your specific duties, work location, and maximum hours. Your employer has to keep their copy on file and available for inspection the entire time you work there.¹

If School Is Out or You’re New to California

Permits are still required during summer and over holidays. If your campus is closed or you’re between schools, contact your local school district superintendent’s office; the district can issue the permit. Minors arriving from out of state should contact the local district where they’ll be staying, though whether that district will issue a permit depends on local policy.⁷

Hours You’re Allowed to Work

Once your permit is issued, the hour limits on it depend on your age and whether school is in session. Your employer is legally responsible for staying inside these limits, but you should know them yourself.

Ages 14 and 15

Up to 3 hours on a school day, and only outside school hours.
Up to 8 hours on a non-school day.
No more than 18 hours in a school week; up to 40 hours in a non-school week.
Work must fall between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., extended to 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.

These caps come from California Labor Code Section 1391(a).² Students enrolled in Work Experience Education get a slightly higher 23-hour weekly cap, with some hours allowed during the school day.

Ages 16 and 17

Up to 4 hours on a school day (a day with 4 or more hours of required attendance).
Up to 8 hours on a non-school day.
Up to 48 hours per week.
Work must fall between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. on evenings before a school day, extended to 12:30 a.m. on evenings before a non-school day.

Work Experience Education students with written permission can work until 12:30 a.m. on any evening.²

Pay

California doesn’t allow a lower wage for younger workers. The state minimum wage is $16.90 per hour as of January 1, 2026, and it applies to every worker regardless of age.⁸ Federal law technically lets employers pay workers under 20 as little as $4.25 an hour during their first 90 days, but California’s higher minimum overrides that for any job in the state.⁹ Some cities set a higher local minimum, so check your city’s ordinance.

Jobs You Can’t Take

Some work is off-limits no matter what the employer or your parent agrees to. The restrictions are tighter for younger teens.

Under 14

Children under 14 generally cannot be employed in California. The exception is the entertainment industry, where permits are issued separately through the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.⁷ The exempt categories above (babysitting, self-employment, working for a parent) still apply, since those aren’t considered traditional employment.

14 and 15

At 14 and 15 you can’t work in manufacturing of any kind, construction (including anything with scaffolding), operating or helping with power-driven machinery, or jobs on boats or near aircraft propellers. You also can’t deliver goods from motor vehicles, work in jobs involving dangerous chemicals or dust, or hold most gas station jobs beyond pumping gas and washing cars.² Door-to-door sales are allowed only in pairs with an adult supervisor nearby.

16 and 17

Older teens have a much wider range of jobs open to them, but federal Hazardous Occupation Orders still ban anyone under 18 from work involving explosives, mining, roofing, operating forklifts or cranes, meat-processing machinery, and commercial bakery equipment, among others.¹⁰ A narrow exception lets 16- and 17-year-old apprentices and student-learners in approved vocational programs perform some otherwise-prohibited tasks under direct supervision.¹¹ Where state and federal rules both restrict a job, the stricter one wins.

Keeping Your Permit

The permit isn’t permanent. Your school can revoke it any time it decides employment is interfering with your schooling, a condition of the permit is being violated, or you’re being asked to do work that breaks the law.⁵

What counts as “interfering with education” is partly local. Many districts require at least a 2.0 GPA and satisfactory attendance to keep a permit. If your grades slip, the issuer doesn’t have to wait for the semester to end; they can pull the permit, and your employer has to stop scheduling you right away.⁷

Entertainment Work Is a Separate Process

If the job is in film, television, commercials, music, or other entertainment, the school permit process does not apply. Those permits are issued by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.¹² First-time applicants can request a 10-day permit online for $50; a standard 6-month permit is free. Minors 14 to 17 must complete sexual harassment prevention training before receiving the permit. Applications tied to a verified upcoming job are typically processed one to three business days before the scheduled work date.

1
California Department of Industrial Relations. Child Labor Law Pamphlet
2
California Department of Industrial Relations. Minors Summary Charts
3
California Department of Education. Work Permits for Students
4
California Department of Industrial Relations. CDE Form B1-1 – Statement of Intent to Employ a Minor and Request for a Work Permit
5
California Legislative Information. California Education Code 49110 – Permits to Work
6
California Department of Education. CDE Form B1-4 – Permit to Employ and Work
7
California Department of Education. Work Permits FAQ
8
California Department of Industrial Relations. Minimum Wage
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 32 – Youth Minimum Wage
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
11
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Child Labor Rules Advisor – Exemptions
12
California Department of Industrial Relations. Entertainment Work Permit